Comments

Clarice, I think the LUNed bio clears up the hub situation. Representative Adams left her first husband because he was abusive. Her second husband was killed and she is currently married to her third husband. I haven't done research to confirm this bio, but I note that during her grilling of Holder, she made a reference that I interpreted as indicating a husband of hers had died while in public service.

I love the Milo reference, Clarice. Most of all I love the focus on how the center of gravity of the Holder DOJ policies re drug gangs is what would help Obama push through his gun control agenda in tha US, not what is best for combatting the gangs.

Great pieces, Clarice, I hadn't thought of Milo Minderbinder in Holder's role, although
it does seem to fit in retrospect, like the incident where he uses the Air Force, to attack his own men in Egypt, to protect the
value of his cotton crop.

Good morning. Just read Pieces (and wryly chuckled at Clarice's close). They certainly have become my Sunday morning must read.

About last night's debate, I am still amazed how awful Diane Sawyer was. Haven't watched alphabet news in years and she was the real shock of the evening. ABC's whole presentation was rather off-putting and I think all of the candidates did well in that weird setting - of course by now, they are all veterans of the debate gong show and the differing styles.

Eventually, Minderbinder begins contracting missions for the Germans, fighting on both sides in the battle at Orvieto, and bombing his own squadron at Pianosa. At one point Minderbinder orders his fleet of aircraft to attack the American base where he lives, killing many American officers and enlisted men.

Yes, Narciso, Clarice really picked the perfect character from fiction to portray Holder. A US AG who oversees a money laundering and gun distribution operation to murderous gangs with the reasonably foreseeable consequence that such operation will result in the deaths of Americans. All for the cause of providing excuses to trample on Americans' Second Amendment rights and no doubt generating some payoff money in the process. Milo would approve!

Narciso,I did like Good as Gold, just not as much as God Knows and Catch22. But those two are genius enough to satisfy anyone. Remember that line in Good as Gold to the effect that he'd lied under oath to Congress under four administrations and was considered a statesman by everyone.

Clarice, beautiful. The first paragraph is strong enough to stand alone as a powerful editorial.

The editorial conjures the image:

Obama, sitting at his desk in the oval office, bracketed by TOTUS, dressed in a Jimmy Carter sweater, hands folded in front of him, lecturing the American people down his nose, next to a Trumanesque sign that says, "The buck never stops."

I am still amazed how awful Diane Sawyer was. Haven't watched alphabet news in years and she was the real shock of the evening.

Who did Diane bang to get to where she is? That ABC didn't even knock her down a notch after she embarrassed the network by getting caught staging the Food Lion sting strongly implies she sweated up the sheets with people in high positions there.

All the bloggers @ AoS must be nursing whopper hangovers because the overnight thread is still there. Still the subject of that was Lindsey Lohan's photo spread in Playboy. This upsets me in a number of ways. First, to get it out of the way so I don't have to mention either of these cretins further, by doing this that senile POS Hef proves that the only difference between him and the noxious Larry Flynt is a wheelchair. Second, were they able to airbrush the location bracelet on Lohan's ankle or did they just crop it out? Finally, not to go sylvia on you, it really saddens me on how far she's fallen in a very short period of time. She must have made the wrong decision at every fork in the road. Adults are responsible for the decisions they make but there's something about the culture of Hollywood that leads to destructive choices.

Nice Pieces, Clarice. I especially liked the MM reference (tho I was afterward looking for a parachute replaced by a share certificate). Not sure if Milo represents authority so much as war profiteering run amok, but overall it worked. (And I'll never get tired of the Adams clip.) Well done.

Got to speak with my neighbor who piloted a Romney on a campaign flight a couple weeks ago. I think he said Atlanta to Houston,but I am not sure I have that correct. Not much more in the way of details -- Romney was nice and personable, and he reiterated he came across as "presidential". During the flight, on which Romney was accompanied by just a couple of aides, he spent most of the time personally writing thank you notes.

And finally,my soon-to-be nephew (marrying my niece) has been selected to receive a call from Obama for the holidays. He's quite excited, and political differences aside and a general loathing of the man himself on my part, I don't blame him one bit. That's pretty cool. He's sworn to secrecy (which is exactly why you're hearing about it here) because such calls are supposed to be a suprise but his commander couldn't keep his mouth shut (so why should the rest of us be expected to do so?).

It's sad about Lindsey, she was such a fresh face in 'Mean Girls' yet she has circled the singularity in record time, then again herpsycho parents, haven't helped matters. Whose star really has consistently risen, from their I'd say Rachel McAdams, the Queen bee.

BTW did anyone else see Bambi singing with Santa Claus? He was reading the words of "let it snow" off a teleprompter.

You know, if someone had made a film about a shallow affirmative action politician who stumbled his way to the presidency saying things like "all 57 states" and used a teleprompter for every public event, it would have been panned as too unbelievable. Truth truely is stranger than fiction.

Daddy, beware. Talk to the "circulation supervisor" of your library. I do not think anyone else will negotiate with you. They will cite policy and claim they are doing their job.

The typical claim is they have only one source for replacement books and as part of that contract the books arrive at the library already stamped, tagged, burglar proof, and coded. Secondly they may claim that the library's source may give them a higher quality book than what you may have purchased.

Arm yourself with the supervisors decision before you enter the library. Also, if you turn in the book and pay for the replacement book, chances are they will not let you keep the damaged book. If replacement is the only option, you may as well say you lost the book.

Glad the coffee didn't spill on the controls!

Agent J, glad to see a post from you. I have been thinking about you.

CH, narciso, is their a decoder for your Ace topic. I have not been there for awhile, but if there is a fun thread to read, please let me know.

Finally, not to go sylvia on you, it really saddens me on how far she's fallen in a very short period of time. She must have made the wrong decision at every fork in the road. Adults are responsible for the decisions they make but there's something about the culture of Hollywood that leads to destructive choices.

Totally agree, Captain. This "Craig Ferguson speaks from the heart" video raises some of the same feelings. It is 12 minutes but he talks about the train wreck of Brittany Spears life, how he got into AA, & to not forget the people behind the celebrity. It is funny & not preachy.

One of my favorite comments was from an Anchoress post long ago - "Be kind - for everyone you meet is engaged in a mighty struggle." Lindsey Lohan is so lost & she needs some truth in her life. Not much truth in Hollywood.

What purpose would be achieved by impeachment when there is no possibility of conviction? An impeachment carries a high political price and requires a commensurate level of political reward which is not apparent to me in this instance.

Why not begin a debate regarding allowance of liability suits on behalf of the victims of the malfeasance and misfeasance of the Department of Justice with removal of the "agent of the government" shield for individuals involved accompanied by refusal to pay for the defense of miscreants?

...The other is a widespread feeling, which the recession has intensified, that higher education is unfairly insulated from the everyday competitive pressures most people have to cope with. Instead of having to find ways to operate more efficiently and deliver ever-more value without raising costs, the way private-sector managers do, college administrators seem able to pass higher and higher bills on to their customers and the public.

A good chunk of the educated public has decided that college educators are decadent and lazy. Many are positively lusting to see higher education get its Detroit-style comeuppance.

The Ben-Dana's of the world know that the most effective spokesman for reforming higher education would be a president that was a university professor rather than an Afirmative Action adjunct at a law school. And that reform will involve a significant reduction in the money going to universities through Federal student loans I imagine.

"Here’s where I think we’re in very dangerous territory. We have two very different but similarly large protest movements going on right now in the Tea Party and the Occupy Movement. What if one of them is linked to a violent act? What if a bomb goes off in a police station in Oakland, or an IRS office in Texas? What if the FBI then linked those acts to Occupy or the Tea Party?

You can see where this is going. When protesters on the left first started flipping out about George Bush’s indefinite detention and rendition policies, most people thought the idea that these practices might someday be used against ordinary Americans was merely an academic concern, something theoretical."

Disclosure Of Recent Government Surveillance Of Quaker Activities Doesn't Surprise Members

by Francis Grandy Taylor

A group of Quakers who were protesting military recruitment efforts at a Florida high school recently learned their meeting was included on a secret Pentagon database of "suspicious incidents." When that news broke last month, it had a familiar ring for many American Quakers.

"With the restriction of civil liberties goes surveillance," says Don Weinholtz, a Quaker who lives in Windsor. "It just seems to be a very unfortunate natural course of events."

The Religious Society of Friends is one of the largest groups of Quakers in the United States, with about 600,000 members worldwide. They embrace beliefs, called testimonies, that include peace, equality and rejection of war in all its forms.

Quaker groups and members have come under government surveillance and infiltration at various times in history, from the McCarthy era to Vietnam. The pacifist church was in the forefront of protest in the run-up to the Iraq war and since then has worked to counter military recruitment efforts in high schools.

I think the point is to put the lawlessness and the corruption of the Obama administration front and center 3 months before the voters go to the polls.

At best, the AG was negligent in his duties. At worst, he knowingly allowed agencies under his authority to engage in outright criminal conduct (unless we find out there was a National Security or Inteligence Finding that authorized the transfer of weapons to a foreign criminal enterprise). Either way, those agencies then planned to used their own criminal conduct to demand the restriction of law abiding American citizens constitutional rights.

And I don't think conviction is out of the questions. I think you would get quite a few Dems to vote to convict in an effort to save their own hides in November.

Also, my understanding is that there is no need to open that discussion about liability in civil court. If what they were doing violated the law, they are not protected by their status as government agents. I suspect that is why the local Federal Prosecutor moved to have the family of the murdered border agent barred from being listed as victims of the crime.

Rick, I'm not sure there is immunity under the federal tort claim act for the cts of the agents in f & F. As I said the other day the law is complicated and though I handled the first major case under that law I'll be damned if I can remember the case law on the meaning of "within the scope of their authority". That means the US may be liable. If not, it is time to start restricting le immunity, isn't it?

The document issued by City of London police, headed "Terrorism/extremism update for the City of London business community", included a detailed account of recent and upcoming Occupy London activities and was sent to "trusted partners" in the area.

The document, dated 2 December, which was passed on to Occupy London's Finsbury square encampment over the weekend by a local business owner, gave an update on foreign terrorist activities including that of Farc in Columbia, al-Qaida in Pakistan and the outcome of a trial into the Minsk bombing in Belarus.

Below that, a section headed "Domestic" was dedicated wholly to the activities of the Occupy encampments and singled out anti-capitalists as a cause for concern.

"As the worldwide Occupy movement shows no sign of abating, it is likely that activists aspire to identify other locations to occupy, especially those they identify with capitalism."

The document stated that police had "received a number of hostile reconnaissance reports concerning individuals who would fit the anti-capitalist profile", and asked businesses to be vigilant for further sign of occupation activity.

It also said that the number of protesters present at the camp remained "fairly consistent" but that demonstrations originating from the camp had "decreased and lacked the support and momentum of earlier actions".

The City of London police have as yet been unwilling to reveal how many businesses were included on the mailing but their list is thought to include large multinationals and banks.

LUN is just the attire clarice needs to go with her pieces. Suspect it comes in a fleece. Red has Pride and Prejudice, Fahrenheit, and To Kill a Mockingbird. The Wolverine can get something too.

Ranger-I am dealing somewhat with higher ed but I have already researched that because it turns out to be an integral part of K-12. It's just a different audience so my assumption is to tell the first story and then hopefully there will be demand for a full fleshing out of higher ed. Needless to say it has made Red's college search interesting because there are famous schools I suggested she avoid and the "I want the prestige t-shirt.bumper sticker" crowd simply wants to go for the highest ranking in US news. Which has become an effective means of corrupting certain schools.

"I think the point is to put the lawlessness and the corruption of the Obama administration front and center 3 months before the voters go to the polls."

Ranger,

Who would do that in a manner which might reach the Muddle? The MFM would turn it into a 'racist witch hunt' in less than a heartbeat.

I'm not saying that impeachment is not warranted and your point regarding the absence of a NSI Finding might prove sufficient to obtain a conviction. It's a matter which would have to be weighed very carefully and perhaps an announcement that it is being weighed would be sufficient to drive Holder to resignation.

In the sequel to Catch 22, "Closing Time", we find Milo and Yossarian trying to market a stealth bomber to the DoD. And finally, they get to make their case for the B2 (because that is what it is) before the purchasing commission:

“And what does a flying wing look like?”

“Other flying wings,” Wintergreen interposed adroitly, with Milo struck dumb by a query he had not anticipated.

My off-the-cuff response is (a) while there are undoubtedly some problems with charter schools, the article could be a hatchet job on behalf of the unions; (b) it doesn't surprise me that where taxpayer money is involved (the dreaded "public-private partnerships"), corruption ensues. Is there any way to minimize it (say vouchers vs. charter schools)? And are even the problem charter schools still not an improvement over most public schools?

A few weeks ago, I was driving back from Philadelphia, felt drowsy, and decided I needed to find a cup of coffee before I got on the turnpike. I drove around Camden, NJ. To my horror, I saw a place so run down, there did not look to be a single place safe enough to go into to buy a cup of coffee.
LUN an article about this victim of failed Democratic policies.

I have been trying to watch the foreign press on some of my cable channels.
RT, though probably not necessarily foreign, but they sound that way, is quite interesting. It has a daily update on the OWS folks, but their report yesterdsy called "Fox, lies and videotape" showed that they don't recongize irony.
They went on and on about how the media (not just Fox) would beat the war drums by showing unrest in other countries, when in fact these were isolated instances. They must not have remembered that they do the same thing with OWS.

I think the LUN is excellent on both what is at stake with Friday's EU agmt, the progressive dream, and what our institutions are designed to preserve.

Clarice's point about the 2nd Am in her pieces reminded me of how I feel about the ed bureaucrats blissfully gutting the Bill of Rights generally. One of the bureaucrats who made a truly shocking concession is someone who has lied to my face multiple times when I cited chapter and verse of why I knew the given wisdom was false.

That interview with Obama before he was in political office where he derisively speaks of the Constitution as too much about "negative liberties" is the mindset of his SCOTUS appointments and the fed judiciary generally and the bureaucrats at the local, state, and federal level. I think Thomas is right the judiciary overreach has resulted in bureaucratic beliefs that they have unlimited powers over the citizen who can just cough up the funding for being ruled over.

Through the EU or Durban or the local school district or Obamacare or ICLEI. We are subjects and sources of revenue unless we get a Pres, Congress, courts, and local politicians who recognize these lines and start stepping away from the abyss of the collective.

I do see your point. But setting the table is worth doing anyway. If the press is in a funk and the Dems in the Senate are in self preservation mode by next September, the MSM may be very willing to pimp the impeachment of Holder as showing how willing the Dems are to fight corruption and abuse of power in DC. At that point the left may see saving as many Dem Senators as possible as the more desireable course of action.

DURBAN, South Africa -- A U.N. climate conference reached a hard-fought agreement Sunday on a far-reaching program meant to set a new course for the global fight against climate change.

The 194-party conference agreed to start negotiations on a new accord that would ensure that countries will be legally bound to carry out any pledges they make. It would take effect by 2020 at the latest.

Why don't that do this next agreement via teleconferencing and show that they really care about their carbon footprint

--Why not begin a debate regarding allowance of liability suits on behalf of the victims of the malfeasance and misfeasance of the Department of Justice with removal of the "agent of the government" shield for individuals involved accompanied by refusal to pay for the defense of miscreants?--

If they had to pass a law to do it, wouldn't that run into an ex post facto problem, or is that another part of our "living" Constitution that is dead?

((there's something about the culture of Hollywood that leads to destructive choices))

not always but often it is parenting that makes the difference between a successful life like Shirley Temple Black's and a train wreck like Lindsay Lohan's. Lohan's dad is a basket case in his own right. "Raise up a child in the way he should go." Proverbs

The more I think about it, the more I love Perry's idea of a part time Congress. ANd given how much everyone hates Washington I'm surprised it's not getting more traction. Of course how on earth do you implement it?

Well this certainly put into focus why Phil Falcone was such an ethusiastic bundler for ZERO last time around. Rags to riches to rags in a few short years? Yikes, here:

U.S. securities regulators are considering filing civil fraud charges against him and what is left of his once $26 billion hedge fund empire. . . . Harbinger now manages less than $4 billion and roughly half of the money is tied up in its investment in LightSquared LP, the upstart wireless telecom on which Falcone has bet the ranch. LightSquared is running low on cash and its outstanding debt trades at a steep discount as its fortunes have floundered due to a number of technical issues.

Just read it. In general I do not see charters as the panacea assumed because usually they must still be certified teachers not just able and knowledgeable as most privates have been able to do traditionally. The principals generally come with the educational leadership credentials that are nonacademic and designed to get them to implement false but pernicious ideas. The Governing Councils nominally have authority but the accrediting agencies have stipulated in rules that exist but are not widely known that not deferring to a principal or super in a dispute can be grounds to lose accreditation. A lot of the charters are affiliated with Knowledge Works out of Ohio that I consider to be Ground Zero for using ed as a crony capitalism vehicle. Hint-Riley is on the Board and it's Diller's idea of the next growth area after AOL.

I read that article as wanting the streams of money to be going to the preferred cronies and that there are insufficient controls in Florida to make that happen. I know what and how the accreditors are pushing in other states and school districts to stop the transmission of knowledge apart from basic skills and they love charters and magnet programs. I see that article as a push for legislatures to allow districts to get more control over those charters lest you end up with outliers in Florida still pushing for solid academics while that Race to the Top grant pushes the nonacademic template. I have met the current Ed Super who came from Va and have talked with members of Fla's legislature. That is a state currently poised to act quickly and pivot once the hard facts of what is going on come out. Diminishing the autonomy of the charters now would make that pivot harder. There's a real desire to prevent still functioning well points of comparison in the future sea of emotional and social learning.

And they do hate Scott because he came into office not beholden to anyone and behaves that way. Threatening to the powers that be from either party.

Not too long ago on Candy Crowley's show on CNN there was quite the fiery exchange between Bob Walker -- a supporter of Newt -- and John Sununu who has been supporting Romney.
Part of the exchange was about the 10k bet Romney tried to make with Perry.
But the whole thing was pretty interesting. Had forgotten what a good natured tiger Bob Walker is.